During the lengthy baseball season, ups and downs are extremely common. In the close call years of 2006 and 2009, the season easily contained dozens of moments of joy that were followed at some point of fear for the success of the team. The beginning part of this holiday weekend contained these same features for fans of the pitching rotation. The biggest question now centers around the next steps for the Tigers starting pitchers.
The Dontrelle Willis era came to a sad end with his designation for assignment. Following the excitement of his arrival to the Tigers, Willis seemed to have one major struggle after another. His left arm showed great promise in Florida, and those same moments were few and far between in Detroit.
On the other hand, Max Scherzer looked more like the guy the Tigers traded for during his last start against Oakland. Who would have thought that he would go from a 7.00+ ERA to a 14 strikeout performance? He was praised during his few starts for the Mud Hens and that continued to his latest start for the team. There’s no doubt that he has earned himself more looks in the rotation moving forward.
So, what’s next for the Tigers’ starting staff? Ideally, the Tigers should recognize that they are one dominant starter away from making a real run in the division. Jeremy Bonderman would slot into the number five spot, an ideal scenario for the Tigers. Names like Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee have been floated about for the team, and especially after the Jarrod Washburn deal of 2009, I would not be shocked if Tigers management were hesitant on adding an additional part to the team.
Muddy Waters
the problem with that washburn trade was the Tigers didn’t do their due diligence and find out that washburn’s knee was damaged more than realized. oswalt shouldn’t cost as much in trade because of his salary and his wanting to be traded, lee would cost more even as a rental with his going to FA. If lee, they should have a short window to see if he would sign a multi year with a trade to Tigers.